Pirates Of Archery THE MORE POSITIVE ARCHERY BOARD WHERE WARM BEER IS AN ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR BREAST MILK, EVERY DAY IS YOHON'S BIRTHDAY, AND HOWATTMAN SETS THE STANDARD FOR DEVIANT BEHAVIOR.

This is a longbow discussion forum that covers everything having to do with longbows. From board bows, to primitive self bows, to modern RD longbows made with synthetic laminates, your ideas, comments, and questions, are welcome here.

Been sick last week so poking around on the Web. Found an article about Frank San Marco. Found out he used to shoot drilled out arrows made by: David Ellenbogen, Rivendell Archery. Anyone ever shot any of those or the ones made by Bill Matlock?

Hmmm. No never shot such an arrow. Off hand, admittedly without really knowing, I would imagine that it would have much the same effect as end tapering an arrow. Less mass, higher FOC, and help force the nodes of oscillation of each arrow become more nearly identical.

I thought I read where they drilled a 1/8th inch hole 8" into the nock end of the arrow. Wonder what type of equipment was used to do that?

I have heard the better clearance claims with a rear tapered arrow, but I figured there shouldn't be any clearance issues with proper tuning. I have heard the quicker recovery deal.... does tapering really make THAT much of a difference in that regard?

Changes the FOC... now that I can believe. So why not just tune with a glue on point that weighs a little more?

You're absolutely right, with proper tuning fletch clearance shouldn't be an issue. I can't speak to faster recovery from paradox. I don't really know how I could measure it. What nock end tapering, or barrelling the whole arrow does is make each arrow behave more nearly alike when actually shot. It forces the nodes of oscillation to occur at or at least near the same place on each arrow. Since wood is a natural material, that doesn't always happen, no matter how careful we are when sorting and testing static spine. Its biggest benefit is to be found in competition where 2, 3, 4, or 6 arrows have to be shot in succession. The effect is subtle but quite real. Its not like you're going to go from a 12" group at 20 yards to shooting 4" groups at 50 yards. Rather, the benefit is cumulative. Your groups are going tighten up a bit, so you start picking up a point or two, so at the end of the shoot you're 10 or 20 points up on where you usually are. Another aspect of whether or not its worth the trouble is at what distances is a person shooting? It probably isn't really going to matter at 17.3 yards and less. Also just how good of a shooter are we talking about? I mean if a guy sucks, then he sucks no matter what you do to his arrows.

I'm glad you see the humor Tom. But consider this. Is your shooting still improving? I imagine it is because I know how dedicated you are. Even if you didn't see an immediate benefit, you should still maybe look into tapered shafts. I firmly believe that a serious shooter should always use equipment that can perform better than he himself can. That way improvement is always at least possible. A LOT of shooters and hunters only go so far and leave it at that. They're happy where they're at, and that's fine. And those are the guys that tapered shafts would be a waste. Somehow I think I saw something more than that in you and your boys.

Thanks. I actually have been reading this stuff with interest and trying to get what I can out of it. I definitely have not put tapered shafts out of the realm of possibility. My shooting has been slow improving lately. With the surgery recovery and all the stuff the family and I run around doing, I haven't taken much time to practice.Thanks,--Tom

I would suggest you all read "Target Archery" by Dr. Robert Elmer, written I believe in 1945. He has a lengthily discussion on tapered arrows and how they effect the arrow. His conclusion was that tapering allows the arrow to overcome paradox quicker, which reduces how friction effects the arrows flight, less friction flatter trajectory over a given distance. In one of his tests using a breast tapered arrow and a barrel tapered arrow of the same spine, length and weight, shot by one of the best target shooters of the day, using the same sight setting at 100 yards. The breast tapered arrow consistently printed 24" higher on the target.Bob